The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Beyond The Door

From the tense and gloomy air within the cavern, it was obvious that this battle had caught all of us by surprise. We were usually all capable in battle, but these past few months of repetitive excursions—hoping to find any signs that a mutant might be close—had left us dull and sloppy.

A few teams had already regrouped and were taking a rest while the injured and deceased were sent back to be properly cared for. Some of the more restless augmenters were sharpening their blades while conjurers sat still in meditation to be in top shape for whatever lay ahead of us.

As our young leader continued surveying the battlegrounds like a zombie, I finally called out for her to join us.

“What’s wrong?” I questioned. “Are you okay, Tessia?”

Her face turned to us as she revealed a faint, and obviously forced, smile. “It’s nothing. It’s good that we won... but we still ended up letting almost ten soldiers die.”

“Our ever-so-compassionate princess exuding kindness and grace to us peasants!” Darvus cried out. “We are not worthy!”

“Zip it,” Tessia quipped, her voice coming out a lot softer than usual.

“We did our best,” Caria consoled, gently patting her back.

“She’s right, Tessia. It’s impossible to save them all,” I added. However, rather than comforting her, it seemed to have the opposite effect, as her expression dropped.

“I guess you’re right. I can’t save them all,” she repeated glumly.

“Nice going,” Darvus whispered beside me.

“Hey! It was better than your sarcastic remark,” I retorted in a hushed voice.

“At this rate, I’ll only bring him down,” Tessia continued, almost too quiet for us to hear.

“By him, do you mean that guy you’re always talking about? Arthur, was it?” Caria chimed, leaning in, eager to hear about the boy Tessia depicted as some fantastical hero out of a children’s book.

“Ugh, not him again,” Darvus groaned. “Princess, when are you going to snap out of that delusion of yours?”

Tessia calmly shook her head. “It’s not like that.”

“What do you mean?” Darvus continued. “You describe him as if he’s some all-powerful, charismatic hotshot without a single humanly flaw.”

“Oh please. You’re just jealous because Arthur is everything you wish you could be, plus better-looking,” Caria accused. She then turned back to Tessia, eyes twinkling. “Is he really that handsome and charming?”

“I guess,” Tessia giggled. “He was pretty popular in school, although I doubted he knew that.”

“I’m hating the guy more and more,” Darvus grumbled.

Tessia shook her head. “He isn’t without flaws, though. Honestly, Arthur was kind of scary when I first met him.”

“You said he saved you from the slave traders after you ran away from home, right?” Caria confirmed.

“Y-Yeah.” Tessia’s face reddened at the embarrassing memory. “He did save me, though I felt like it wasn’t really out of the goodness of his heart, but some logical scheme. Of course, I was only a child back then so I could be wrong, but Arthur had always had this scary side of him where he seemed cold—heartless, even.”

“Ooh, a bad boy,” Caria cooed.

“I’m going to barf,” Darvus gagged. “If you ask me, he doesn’t seem like that great of a guy. I mean, he left you alone in danger a few times, right? And he went off on his own after you got kidnapped by that Alacryan mage that invaded Xyrus Academy! He didn’t even make sure you were okay and went off to who knows where.”

“He checked in with Grandpa to make sure I was okay, but he was in a hurry,” Tessia reasoned, her head lowering.

“Oh right, to go ‘train’ somewhere in secret.” Darvus rolled his eyes. “If you ask me, he just ran away from the war because he was afraid he would die.”

I took a peek at Tessia’s expression, afraid that she would be mad, but our leader was calm. “You’re wrong, Darvus. Arthur may be a bit clueless when it comes to expressing or even handling emotions, and a bit naive in some other aspects”—Tessia’s cheeks blushed ever-so-slightly—“but he’s not one to run away in fear; his desire to protect his loved ones is too strong for that.”

“Yes, yes. Arthur will be the hero that saves us from the wrath of the Alacryans,” Darvus sighed, conceding from Tessia’s determined gaze.

“He can’t be that strong though, right?” I asked. I had grown more and more curious about the boy Tessia cherished to such a degree.

Our leader’s lips curled into a smirk as she gazed afar. “He’s strong.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet him!” Caria added. “You will introduce us to him, right?”

“Yeah.” Tessia’s smile dimmed. “Hopefully that time comes soon.”

Darvus shook his head, hugging himself. “Blech. You can count me out! I feel like I already know the guy way too much. Besides, after fighting alongside me for so long, I bet the guy will only look like some second-rate mage.”

“Is there a limit to how pretentious you can be?” Caria shook her head, eliciting a chuckle from me.

“What in the world?” Drogo’s head wouldn’t stop turning as he scoured the cavern, his hands gripping his longsword. _{freёwebnoѵel.com}